The Official Blog of the Australian High Commission in New Zealand

business delegation

Having done diplomatic postings to Jakarta and Honiara, I’ll be honest and say that Wellington seemed like a pretty boring option.

But after meeting a handsome Kiwi in the Solomon Islands, it came to pass that, in 2015, I followed that well-trodden path of Aussies who move to NZ for love.

Fortunately, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade saw fit to give me a posting. Unfortunately, the only job at my level was an economic and trade one. An area in which I had, at that time, very little experience or interest.

Indigenous Business – In Conversation with Dr Donna Odegaard AM and Wayne Bergmann.

Welcome to Trans-Tasman Tales, the free podcast by the Australian High Commission in New Zealand.

In today’s episode we’re joined by Dr Donna Odegaard AM and Wayne Bergmann, two members of the Australian Indigenous business delegation which visited New Zealand between 28 January and 3 February 2018. The aim of the visit was to support closer ties with New Zealand’s Maori economy and to learn from the successes of Maori businesses.

Shortly after my arrival at the Australian High Commission in Wellington in January 2015, my colleague Nick Williams infected me with his enthusiasm for New Zealand’s Māori economy. Nick, a young Aboriginal man from Queensland, had been following the growth and success of Māori business and was interested in the opportunity for Australian Indigenous businesses to learn from their Māori counterparts.